By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and Michael Gioia
11 Nov 2013

The Rascals

Tickets are now on sale for the The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream, a concert event written by guitarist Steven Van Zandt, with music and lyrics by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati, which will return to Broadway Dec. 16 at the Marquis Theatre.

Directed by Van Zandt and Marc Brickman, the show played a limited Broadway engagement last spring at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. It is currently on tour. The Broadway engagement will run Dec. 16-Jan. 5, 2014. Visit Ticketmaster.com.

Here's how the experience is billed: "A hybrid of a rock 'n' roll concert and a Broadway show, The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream marks the first time The Rascals, America's classic blue-eyed soul band, have played together since 1970. Original band members Felix Cavaliere (keyboard & vocals), Eddie Brigati (vocals), Dino Danelli (drums) and Gene Cornish (guitar) will present a complete concert performance including songs that captured the spirit of America in the 1960s — their smash hits 'Good Lovin',' 'Lonely Too Long,' 'It's a Beautiful Morning,' 'How Can I Be Sure' and 'Groovin'.' The production will also feature the history of the iconic group told through archival footage, narration, and dramatic film segments viewed on the latest LED screen technology."

The Rascals, formerly known as The Young Rascals, were at first "a hard-hitting band reminiscent of the early Animals," drawing from "the same well that fed the then-burgeoning garage rock scene," according to their biographical notes. "They would go on to lead the way for Blue Eyed Soul to Folk Rock to Protest to Civil Rights, blending white Pop melodies with black soul and R&B muscle. Though they never brandished their politics like some bands, the Rascals truly lived theirs, fighting discrimination by demanding that a black act appear on the bill at each of its concerts. The post-twist New York, New Jersey, and Long Island club scenes bred the band, an outfit whose sound grew more sophisticated as time went on, but stayed rooted in the blue-eyed soul that was its first reason for being. Their music would span the entire decade from the early Go-Go dance parties right through the psychedelic era — and beyond."

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"When The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream sold out at the Capitol Theatre, and performances had to be added this past December, we saw very clearly that there is an enduring love for the music of The Rascals," Van Zandt, who also serves as the show's music producer, said in an earlier statement. "The Rascals created music that inspired a generation — and that feeling has lived on through their original fans and the legions of new fans that have discovered their music over the years."